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Celebrity
clients are a great way to leave your competition in the dust no
matter how saturated your market is. It's the easiest
way ever to get paid a lot more for what you do.

But it’s not just about landing the celeb. It’s about leveraging
his or her star power.

Through my party-planning company The Party Goddess!, I’ve worked
with celebrities like Pierce Brosnan, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Kimora Lee
Simmons, Sofia Vergara, Nick Lachey and
Vanessa Minnillo. Every entrepreneur should care about
celebrities, even if they don’t really care about
them. Two things sell: sex and celebrities. Period.

1. Determine your "why." Do you want celebrities
in order to lead an exciting life, hobnobbing with the rich
and famous? Or do you want celebrity clients to
bring attention for your brand?

2. Quantify the end goal. If you want
celebrities to help your brand stand out, that’s great but figure
out how much cash, time and product you're willing to budget
for this endeavor and what kind of return on
the investment you're expecting.

3. Be clear on how how success will be
quantified. For example, I set for myself a
certain quota of A-listers that I want to work with each
year and here's why: Historically each celeb translates
into a certain number of national magazine mentions. Those
mentions in publications that the target audience reads translate
into a certain number of hits on my blog, which net a
certain number of inquiries. This, in turn, results in a
certain percentage of closed deals.

4. Identify targets. For whom did I want to
plan a rock-star-fabulous event and why? If your ideal customers
are Kardashian-following, clothes-loving, latest-restaurant-type
foodie hounds, landing a country western singer that Tinseltown
isn’t super enamored with won't do you a bit of good. It will be
a waste of your resources and might even turn off your audience.

I captured the attention of celebrities by sending
them gift certificates that were beautiful, personalized and
worth a significant dollar amount. Celebrities are used to
getting everything for free. Just like in every other aspect of
your business, even your gift must rise above the rest.

Here is my formula:

Celebrities = Press.

Press = Notice.

(Notice cuts through the noise, which keeps you chasing clients
and your prices low.)

Notice = Expert.

Expert = More money.

The marketplace these days is so cluttered, crowded and noisy,
it takes much more than having a great product to
convince people to take a second look at your business.

Lately there's been a lot of talk about entrepreneurs needing to
become experts. The bottom line is, if your target audience
identifies you as the leader of your pack, the one who is really
the go-to resource in your industry, you can command higher
prices. Right or wrong, that’s just how perception works.
Therefore, demonstrate that you’ve got the street cred and your
customers will vote with their feet (right into your back
pocket).

Identify top celebrities. Even if you
don't live in the 90210 area, that's no problem.
The optimal celebrity for you to target doesn’t have to be
an actualHollywood celebrity. Think of an
influential person in your area: the mayor, say, a well-known
family or a media person. Well-known people in a municipal area
are seen as celebrities. So brainstorm and come up with
a list. Create a plan. And then just go after them with a
specific road map.

Once you have landed your celebrities as clients, it’s all about
leveraging them. It’s not enough to just get the celebrity client
of your town. That’s akin to a tree falling in the forest: If no
one saw it, did it really fall? Creating notable events is the
same. Your target audience must be made aware and reminded that
this is the kind of clientele you have, seting you above the rest
and making you good at what you do and therefore super desirable
as their #1 vendor of choice. (This just happens to mean you
can justifiably charge more.)

To leverage your hard-won celebrity cadre, secure these key
things:

The client's name. The celebrity must
sign off on something that states in effect something like Marley
Majcher of The Party Goddess! gets to include Pierce Brosnan on
her client list.

A photo. A picture speaks a thousand words.
Enough said. Get a shot of you and the fabulous client.

A testimonial. If you can, secure a testimonial.
It doesn’t have to be long or formal. Heck, it can even be a
tweet, but try to get something. Eighty characters and a
smiley face from George Clooney are as good as cash.

Now go and tell the world! Use the three key
elements above to tout your success. In the beginning it
will feel awkward, but you must do it or all your hard work will
be for naught. Broadcast the news through social media,
ezines, press releases and your website's press page, blog
and client roster.

But remember the golden rule: Do unto others as you would like
them to do unto you. Protect your celebrity clients like you
would protect your children. Assume nothing. If you gift them
with your services, be clear and upfront about what’s involved so
that everyone is clear from the start. The last thing you want to
do is land a celebrity client and then sell them out.

The world of famous people, whether it’s in Hollywood or the
local group of reporters in a small town, is usually a tight
group and people talk. Your reputation for keeping your mouth
shut is vital. Exchanging your services for having the celebrity
appear with you in photo, be named as your client and
provide a testimonial should be clearly spelled out. You wouldn’t
appreciate someone abusing your trust, so don’t abuse the
celebrities'. That means take your informal count of their
martini consumption to the grave.

People do business with people whom they know, like and trust.
Develop the relationship and that celebrity, and many other
clients will be yours for the taking. You can still leverage the
relationship by mentioning details of your upcoming event (or
past event) without naming names or giving specific dollar
amounts. Don’t risk your newly acquired elevated status with an
overconfident remark to the press about someone being cheap or
anything less than fabulous.

Now go draft up those gift certificates and shout your results
from the rooftop.